


Wake Me Up Inside

by SasuNarufan13



Category: Naruto
Genre: Hopefully you'll see what I mean at the end with that, Implied Slash, M/M, Mindfuck maybe, Naruto's pov, Some angst, Starts as Naruto/Hinata but she barely appears in it, They all deserve happy endings, Use of genjutsu, i don't know how else to tag it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 08:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9712697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SasuNarufan13/pseuds/SasuNarufan13
Summary: This time I'll be the one to guide you home.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note: This idea jumped on me one night when I was just idly browsing through some Naruto related posts. It demanded to be written and well, here it is finally finished. My way of fixing the ending I guess, because everyone deserves to be happy.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

**Wake Me Up Inside**

He thought he had got better. He _should_ have got better.

After defeating Otsutsuki Momoshiki together with Sasuke and Boruto, he had felt lighter; his best friend reminding him that no matter how many years went by the soul of a shinobi stayed the same. Looking at how Boruto had handled the fight, he couldn't do anything but agree with that and for once he had been happy to lose to Sasuke.

When they had returned home, he had resolved to better himself, to spend more time with his family like he hadn't done in years; promising himself he would be better this time around. No more avoiding his family, no more spending practically all his time at the office. No more having Shikamaru urge him to take some time off.

He had kept his promise. He had started to spend more time with Hinata and his two children, had made an effort to fill the gap that had been there between him and Boruto for several years now, tentatively reaching out to the younger man; hoping he hadn't screw up their bond beyond repair. His efforts had been rewarded: his son was laughing again in his presence, seeking him out to just chatter about training, asking to be shown a particular jutsu without a heavy scowl plastered on his face. Requesting to be told stories about his childhood without Boruto trying to use them in an attempt to defeat him.

Hinata was more relaxed; her sweet face no longer carrying the faint traces of worry. Himawari had become more outgoing around him as well, insisting on giving him his bento every morning.

He had got better.

But then it started again. Fatigue creeping up on him, sinking its devious claws in him and dragging him down. When he spent time with his family, he started feeling restless again; that sensation of being caged keeping him up at night, staring at the sky. That urge to run away, to flee, to leave everything behind and just start over again somewhere else.

It frightened him. Kept him up at night while next to him his wife slept peacefully and his children were equally sunken away in a nice sleep.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. He couldn't figure out why he was feeling like this, like he was on the verge of exploding; agitation simmering in his belly. He should be happy. He had everything he had ever dreamt of: he finally had a family of his own, a beautiful and sweet wife to return to and two amazing children. He had been appointed Hokage after Kakashi had resigned; the highest position one could attain in the village and one which he had sought after ever since he had been old enough to realise what Hokage meant. Times were peaceful; every village was cooperating with each other and really dangerous enemies didn't pop up as frequently as they had when he still had been just a teenager. He had been lucky enough to have most of his friends escape the Fourth Ninja War relatively unscathed – something the generations before him hadn't been able to say.

He had everything he could have wanted.

Yet it wasn't enough.

When he looked at his family, he felt empty, tired. He loved them, he really did, but a part of him felt empty, listless. He felt like something was still missing, but what could it be? He had a wife and two children – what could he possibly still be missing? Nothing, was the answer and yet he still didn't feel satisfied. Still felt like something was lacking, like he was searching for something he just couldn't grasp or find.

Still felt _alone_ just like when he had been a child and nobody in the village had wanted to look at him or associate with him. But that was ridiculous, right? How could he feel alone when he was surrounded by his friends and family?

Yet nothing could curb the loneliness and it only caused him to feel guilty when he looked at Hinata's adoring smile and his children's enthusiastic response whenever he arrived home and left for work.

Why couldn't he just feel happy like any normal person?

An exhausted sigh left him and he swallowed two pills, taking a few sips of water to get them down his throat easier. Pills he had thought he wouldn't need again after returning to the village, but which had become necessary once more as the weeks passed by and exhaustion kept waiting at the edges of his consciousness, ready to attack him once he lowered his guard.

A knock on the door made him look up and a few seconds later Shikamaru entered the room with a couple of files in his hand.

Naruto groaned. "Don't tell me I have to look through those files as well," he said dismayed, throwing a foul look at the towering pile of documents next to him on the desk which still required his signature. He felt like he had barely made a dent into his work since he set foot into the office this morning.

Shikamaru smiled wryly and dropped the files in front of the pile, leaning on them with one hand. "Don't worry, these don't require your immediate attention," he reassured his friend. "I just figured I would bring them up to you before they were forgotten."

"And we can't have that," Naruto muttered underneath his breath, looking despairingly at the thick file in front of him, detailing the possible construction of a new hospital dedicated to the ones mentally suffering. It needed his signature for approval, but he was still only at page four of the file which had twenty pages in total and which seemed to have been written by someone who thought they needed to use the most difficult words they could find in the dictionary.

Why did they even think twenty pages was necessary just to explain why a new hospital was needed? Couldn't they have done it in ten pages max?

"Have you eaten lunch?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes; his mouth a straight line of disapproval when he caught the pill bottle that Naruto slipped into the top drawer of his desk. "Naruto …"

"I'm fine," Naruto hastened to reassure the other man, not keen on getting another worried scolding about his medicine intake. "And no, I haven't yet. I didn't even know it was time for lunch already."

"And this is why you need to take it easier," Shikamaru chided him and straightened up with a sigh. "I'll bring you something to eat."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, because he remembered Hinata packing a bento for him, but frowned when he realised that he had already eaten that one a few hours ago. He had sent out various clones during the morning to do some miscellaneous tasks and the energy that had taken to keep them running around the village had made him hungry enough to eat the bento.

"You don't need to do that," Naruto said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Feeling the rough spikes of his short hair, he absentmindedly wondered whether he should start growing it out again. Why had he ever decided to cut it short anyway?

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and threw him an exasperated look. "Oh, don't give me that," he snorted. "If I don't get you something to eat, you're just going to forget about it all over again and you fainting from hunger would be a drag."

Blue eyes squinted at him. "I'm pretty sure the former Hokage got a lot more respect than you're giving me now," he complained, slumping back in his chair.

"The former Hokage weren't as big as an idiot as you can be," Shikamaru riposted lightly and turned around with a lazy wave of his hand. "I'll be right back."

" _Come on."_

"Come on what? Weren't you planning on bringing the food to me?" Naruto asked confused; his hand already hovering over the document to turn the page.

"Yeah, I said I would bring it to you," Shikamaru retorted and raised an eyebrow as he paused in the doorway. "Are the documents messing with your mind so much that you're forgetting things so quickly already?"

Naruto waved him away with a scowl. "Shut up, I thought I heard something," he muttered and returned his attention back to the file, ignoring Shikamaru clucking his tongue.

Then his advisor was gone and the blond man was alone again.

He sighed loudly and shook his head, slapping his cheeks to wake him up properly. Maybe he should cut back on the paperwork if it already had him hearing things.

* * *

" _Don't you want to come home?"_

With a jerk Naruto was ripped out of his sleep and he shot up straight, blinking rapidly to dispel the last remains of a dream of which he couldn't remember the content anymore.

"Did you say something, Hinata?" he questioned groggily and rubbed with his hands over his eyes.

Next to him Hinata stirred and she slowly turned around, looking at him confused through half lidden eyes. "Hm, Naruto-kun? Something wrong?" Her voice was heavy with sleep and that was no wonder considering it was only three thirty in the morning as Naruto realised when he glanced quickly at his alarm clock.

"No, sorry I woke you up," Naruto muttered and laid back down, opening his arms automatically when she shuffled closer to him. "I thought you said something, but I must have dreamt it."

"Oh, okay," she murmured and her right arm slipped around his waist; her head cradled by his shoulder. Her eyes fell shut and it didn't take long for her to fall back asleep.

Naruto, however, remained awake for a while longer before darkness once again descended over him.

* * *

The small, empty bottle was plonked down on the table and the man sank down in the chair, slumping back in it. "I need a refill," Naruto announced flatly, rubbing his temples to stave off an annoying headache.

Tsunade lowered her glass and gazed at him unamused. She shoved the bottle away from her and said, "I gave you new ones two weeks ago. What the hell have you been doing, brat?"

"I've been working and running this village!" he snapped; irritation closer to the surface than ever now that he didn't have his pills to combat the exhaustion. He had barely been able to get out of bed this morning, plagued by nightmares he couldn't remember once he had woken up. Discovering that the bottle was empty hadn't improved his mood at all.

Nor had the giant pile of paperwork done anything to make his day better.

"Naruto, this was a full bottle!" she hissed, not cowed in the least at the anger flashing up in blue eyes. "These are only meant to be taken sparsely. What did you do – take pills every fucking day?"

His hands balled into fists and he glared at the woman who he saw as his own grandmother. She was still maintaining her jutsu to look years younger than she actually was; nobody would be able to guess that she had survived three Shinobi Wars and had lost most people she loved.

"Look, doesn't matter, okay," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm tired as hell and I still need to look through a giant pile of paperwork. I need new pills _now_."

"What you need is to take a step back from work and actually relax once in a while," Tsunade retorted sharply and narrowed her eyes. "Shikamaru is your advisor – let him take over some of the paperwork and get some fucking rest, you idiot. You look ready to collapse!"

"I don't need rest, I need those damn pills!" Naruto snarled and only just managed to restrain himself from slamming his fist on the table. "Give them to me now!"

"This isn't what anyone would have wanted for you," she stated quietly and it was anyone's guess who she was referring to.

The Jinchuuriki wasn't about to waste time figuring out her cryptic remark. He had work to do and that wouldn't fix itself. "Give me the pills now," he repeated coldly.

She shook her head disappointed, but rose up from her chair and walked to a small, unassuming cabinet next to the sink. She placed her hand on the door and it glowed white, accepting her chakra and releasing the lock. When she turned around, she had an unopened bottle in her hand.

Her mouth was set in a harsh line as she slammed the bottle on the table; the pills inside rattling a bit. "Lower your intake," she instructed coldly. "You can't keep increasing the dosage. I don't know how your body will react to that and I'm not planning on finding it out either."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto muttered, but relief was already rushing through him as he popped open the lid and swallowed two pills immediately. It took a few seconds, but the exhaustion was abating, leaving him alert enough to handle his work. "Thanks," he added, slipping the bottle into his pocket.

"Get the hell out of my house now," she spat; fingers already sliding around the neck of her bottle of sake.

He left, aware that he was walking on very thin ice now. Inwardly he cursed; he hadn't intended to antagonise Tsunade so much, but the exhaustion had been so bad he had been seconds away from either crying or raging in frustration. Both were states he needed to avoid.

Still, he had acted like a real arsehole to her and he threw a guilty look at the dark green door. He would make it up to her later, apologise for acting like that.

Now that he had his medicine, though, he could finally start working. Maybe if he was lucky, he could finish at least half of the pile before it was evening.

Right when he was about to jump onto the roof of a nearby building – running across the roofs would be faster than running through the streets – Sakura suddenly turned around the corner, closely followed by Sarada.

"Good morning, Lord Seventh," Sarada smiled; her dark hair glinting in the early morning sun.

"Hello, Sarada." He gave her a distracted smile, noting the empty shopping bag in her hand.

"I didn't expect you here, Naruto," Sakura said surprised and her green eyes glanced behind his back. "Were you visiting Tsunade-sama?"

"Yeah, just to catch up a bit," Naruto answered vaguely. "Sorry, but I have to - "

"Eh, say, Naruto," Sakura started hesitatingly and she fiddled with her fingers. "Did you hear anything of Sasuke-kun yet? It's been a couple of months since he last was here." She smiled embarrassed; her cheeks tinting pink.

_Why can't you just send a message to him instead of relying on me as your go between?!_ Naruto wanted to snap, irrationally irritated. If she wanted to talk to Sasuke, why couldn't she just send her own letter? She knew how to contact him, no? Why constantly expect him to know where the last remaining Uchiha was? He wasn't their bloody messenger!

He took a deep breath and gave a strained smile. "No, sorry, he hasn't sent me any messages since he left the village," he replied and Sarada frowned, biting on her lower lip.

He felt sorry for the girl, but it wasn't his fault that Sasuke couldn't be bothered with showing up more than once or twice a year. Sasuke did his own thing, always had. He doubted his best friend would ever change.

Sakura's face fell, obviously disappointed. "Ah well, I guess we'll just have to wait then," she laughed weakly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Guess so," he muttered and took a step back. "Sorry, but I really need to go to my office now. There's a pile of paperwork waiting to swallow me up," he joked, mustering up enough humour in his voice to not alert the pink haired woman.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Go and attack the paperwork," she said and waved him off with a grin.

He waved at them and jumped up on the roof, bleeding his frustration out by rushing to his office. He couldn't even pinpoint why exactly he had become annoyed at Sakura's question. She had posed that question before, knowing full well that he and Sasuke kept regular contact with each other – well, as regular as contact could be with the wandering man. He hadn't minded the question before; had felt awkward sometimes that Sasuke chose to contact him only and not his family, but he had never been annoyed when Sakura asked about Sasuke's whereabouts.

_Maybe I do need more rest_ , he thought morosely and then he landed in his office, saw the pile of documents waiting for his attention on his desk and groaned aloud, scratching his head.

More rest sounded like a utopia right now.

A tired sigh leaving his body, he dropped down in his chair and pulled the first document off the pile.

Here was to another day of boring paperwork.

* * *

" _Wake up!"_

Blue eyes opened and stared dazedly at the ceiling, feeling disoriented for some reason. Slowly he rose up on his elbows and felt something sliding down his chest. When he looked down he noticed a pale blue blanket covering him haphazardly.

Right, he had fallen asleep on the couch again. With a groan, Naruto sat up and rubbed his hands over his face, feeling like he could sleep for several hours more. The clock, however, told him that he had to get up now if he wanted to be in his office on time.

"Dad?"

Boruto stood in the door opening, staring at him with a frown marring his forehead.

"Hey, Boruto," Naruto croaked out and cleared his throat, hiding a yawn behind his hand. "You leaving for your mission?"

"Yeah, Konohamaru-sensei told us we need to leave early," Boruto explained, leaning against the doorframe. He was still wearing Naruto's old jacket, seemingly having formed an attachment to it after he helped fighting Otsutsuki. "The man we're escorting wants to hurry."

"All right, good luck then," Naruto smiled and stood up, stretching his arms and back until it popped. He started folding the blanket, but was aware that his son hadn't left yet. "Shouldn't you leave now if the client is in a hurry?"

"Yeah, but … Are you okay?"

Naruto turned around, surprised at the hesitant question. "Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry," he reassured his son and raked a hand through his hair.

"You look tired," Boruto insisted.

"I had to read too much paperwork yesterday," Naruto waved off his son's concern and nodded at the clock. "Don't make your team wait."

"All right, I'll see you in three days," Boruto said and after one more moment of hesitation, he grinned and left, running out of the house.

Naruto rolled his shoulders and shuffled to the bathroom; his eyes tired and gritty. Another day of paperwork and assigning missions awaited him.

* * *

The sound of wings soaring through the sky had him already turning around in his chair before the hawk had had the chance to land on the windowsill.

"Sasuke sent a message?" Shikamaru frowned, looking up from the document he had been reading.

"Looks like it," Naruto commented and rose from his chair. His stomach flipped funnily and he furrowed his eyebrows as he unearthed the tiny, folded up message out of the tube tied around the hawk's leg. Maybe he should eat something; he hadn't had the time to eat a decent breakfast this morning before he had to rush out of the door.

The hawk clicked his beak and flapped his wings but remained on the windowsill, clearly expecting a reply.

As always, Sasuke's message only contained a few sentences, which were vague enough that enemies would have a difficult time deciphering what he actually meant.

' _Found important information. Meet me at our place.'_

Naruto blinked and tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the windowsill. This information had to be very important if it required the blond's actual presence. He only had had to leave the village a few times to meet up with Sasuke and the other man only asked his presence if the threat was quite real. What had he discovered this time?

"You need to leave?" Shikamaru guessed, watching Naruto sharply.

"Yeah, he said he has important information," Naruto muttered and watched how the message burnt up until nothing but ash remained that got scattered by a breeze; a seal put on the paper to ensure that no evidence was left behind. "Can you - "

Shikamaru raised his hand and smiled wryly. "I got it. I'll inform your family. How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"Hm, maybe a few days?" Naruto shrugged, slipping some extra kunai and shuriken in his pockets. "He told me to meet at our place, so it's not that far away."

'Our place' referred to the Valley of the End, where they had had their most important fights and where they had lost their arms years ago. Nobody ever came there, save for maybe a stray walker, which made it the perfect place to meet up.

"Do you need someone to come with you?" Shikamaru inquired, probably already going through a list of suitable guards who could join Naruto on his trip.

"Nah, I'll be fine," the blond reassured his advisor and smiled. "It's not the first time I'll be going alone."

"If something happens - " Shikamaru started concerned, but the Hokage cut him off.

"Then Sasuke is there to help me fight," Naruto stated confidently and shut off his computer. "Nothing is going to happen, stop worrying."

His friend looked at him unimpressed, but gave in with a sigh. "All right then. Stay safe."

Naruto looked up and grinned. "Always."

* * *

The noise of gurgling water greeted him when he neared the edge of the forest; high above him some birds took flight when he landed on a lower tree branch, disrupting their rest. He had departed immediately after receiving the message, leaving Konoha in the capable hands of Shikamaru. There hadn't been any news of threats lately, so the Jinchuuriki was reassured that nothing bad would happen to the village in his absence.

Should there be an attack, he knew he could count on his friends to keep Konoha safe until he arrived.

Noiselessly he landed on the pebbles decorating the bedding of the small river. In front of him the statues of Madara and Hashirama loomed over the valley; having been rebuilt after Sasuke and Naruto had accidentally destroyed them during their last fight.

"You're late," a deep voice scolded him from his left and he grinned, turning in that direction.

"Tell your hawk to be faster then," Naruto quipped teasingly and approached the cloaked man, who nearly blended in with the shadow of the tree he was resting his back against.

"Hn, you look like shit," Sasuke commented idly; one sharp, black eye roaming across Naruto's body. The other one containing his Rinnegan was hidden behind dark hair.

"Hey! I don't look that bad!" Naruto bristled and crossed his arms, scowling at the one he called his best friend. "I can wipe the floor with your snobby arse any time I want! Just try me!"

"Still the same idiot," Sasuke remarked dryly and relaxed minutely.

"Still the same bastard," Naruto threw back, but a grin spread out across his face. Some of the exhaustion bled out of him at the familiar taunting between them. "You said you'd found some information? What is it?"

Sasuke studied him carefully and the scrutiny made Naruto's stomach twist with unease. The dark haired man's silence also set him on edge and he tensed up, casting a careful glance around them.

"What?" Was there someone near them? But he couldn't feel any other chakra aside from his and Sasuke's. Unless that person had masked their chakra, but Sasuke would have already got rid of them then. The man was meticulous when it came to sweeping their meeting places for any threats.

"Do you remember Otsutsuki Toneri?" Sasuke questioned abruptly and his hand came to rest on his sword.

Naruto frowned, taken off guard by the non-sequitur question. Toneri had been years ago – why did Sasuke bring that guy up now? "Yeah, I remember him. He was the one who took Hinata and wanted to destroy our world," he answered and placed a hand on his hip. "Why do you bring him up now? Did you find something linked to him, or so?"

"You recall defeating him?" Sasuke continued, ignoring the blond's inquiry.

The Jinchuuriki bristled, but replied, "Yes, of course. I'm not that old that my memory has already started to collapse, you know." Irritation coloured his voice and he shifted his weight from his left leg to his right. "Sasuke, what does he have to do with the information you have?"

"And you noticed nothing odd?"

Naruto frowned, feeling lost as to where this conversation was going. Normally he could follow Sasuke's thoughts, but this time he had no clue what the other man was thinking. "No, why? Should I have?"

A dark chuckle left Sasuke's throat and the blond stilled; the hairs in his neck rising from the ominous sound.

"Sasuke?" His mouth felt dry and he licked his lips, wondering what the fuck was going on now.

"Well, I guess that's why I'm here," Sasuke said cryptically and sighed. "If you had, I wouldn't have to come here after all."

"Would you stop the cryptic bullshit finally and tell me what you found?" Naruto bit out, his patience running out thanks to Sasuke's strange behaviour.

"Don't you want to come home, Naruto?"

Naruto froze; the words triggering a memory. "What did you say?" he asked quietly, questioning whether he had misheard his friend.

"Don't you want to come home?" Sasuke repeated; his tone oddly gentle.

An awkward laugh left the blond man and he rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, what are you talking about, Sasuke? I just left home to find you. Did you hit your head on the way here or so?"

"Aren't you sick of dreaming?"

"Sasuke, seriously, what the fuck are you talking about, man?" Naruto stared at the dark haired man, wondering whether his mind had snapped. Maybe he should have brought Sakura with him; she had been Tsunade's student – if anyone could figure out what was wrong with someone, it was Sakura.

"I'm talking about the fact that it's about time you wake up, idiot!" Sasuke sneered and his sword glinted in the weak sunlight.

"I am fucking awake! What the hell are you - "

"No, you're not! You've been asleep since you went after Toneri!" Sasuke snapped and his eye flashed red with the Sharingan.

Now Naruto was completely lost. "Sasuke – what, what are you saying? I don't understand. How can I be asleep when - "

"We don't have much time," Sasuke cut him off abruptly; his face a mask of pure grimness. "I need you to go with me before it's too late." His hand shot out, offering it to the blond man.

"Before it's too late for what? Bastard, just talk to me!"

"Toneri wasn't after Hyuuga!" Sasuke hissed and this time his eyes glow red and purple; his chakra surrounding him in a purple haze. "She was just a way to get you to follow after him. What he really wanted was the bijuu inside you! And you fell right into his trap!"

"You're not making any sense, bastard," Naruto retorted helplessly, staring wide eyed at Sasuke. Fear was curling around his chest; something had to be wrong with Sasuke. Why else would he insist that …

"I'm making more sense than this fucking fake world you're in now," Sasuke sneered and took a step closer. "You've been trapped in his genjutsu world while Toneri was busy siphoning the Kyuubi's chakra out of you!"

"This can't be a genjutsu world," Naruto instantly denied. "I've trained with Kurama to get me out of genjutsu attacks."

"As a Jinchuuriki you shouldn't be able to get trapped in a genjutsu, true," Sasuke acquiesced and a bitter smile graced his lips as he continued, "Unless the Kyuubi's chakra was supressed. He caught you off guard and he managed to get a barrier between yours and the Kyuubi's chakra. This world was created to stop you from fighting. It's genius, really. Why would you try to fight off a genjutsu if you don't know that you're in one?"

"You're lying or someone fed you this bullshit," Naruto said; his heart beating fast and loud. "Look around you, Sasuke. This is the real world! This isn't a genjutsu that I - "

"So you really think this is real? That nothing in this world is fake?" Sasuke barked and waved his arm around madly. "You don't think it's strange that you married a girl you never really interacted with before? Tell me that you never felt like something was wrong. Tell me that you never wondered why you felt something was missing, that something was off. Tell me: are you really happy, Naruto? Because you don't look like it. And if you really accomplished your dreams – why do you look like that then?"

It wasn't possible. It couldn't be true. It was preposterous, really. Nothing of it made sense. And yet …

He _had_ felt off. He _had_ wondered at times whether something was wrong. He _had_ questioned why he felt this tired all the time and had to take pills just to get on with his daily life when he had been certain that none of the previous Hokage had ever felt this bad. Had been wondering why nothing he did seemed to make any difference. Had asked himself why he felt so distant from his family when a family was all he had ever wanted when he was still just a kid.

Nothing made any sense. But what Sasuke said – wasn't that just too easy, too good to be true?

"How – if Toneri is taking Kurama's chakra, how are you here then?" Naruto asked, mouth drier than the desert of Suna.

"He isn't. Not anymore at least," Sasuke sighed. "Hyuuga was left on the outskirts of Konoha as soon as Toneri had you. She told everyone what had happened and Kakashi, Gaara and Shikamaru went after you. I followed them, because I had heard what happened. We found out what he was doing and managed to get you out of the contraption that was sucking out your chakra."

"If you got me out it, then why am I still here?"

"You were trapped in there for four days. We couldn't snap you out of it, so that's why I'm here," Sasuke said; his eyes glinting hard. "I'm the only one who could help you get out of here."

All of this: feeling exhausted the entire time, feeling like he was missing something, feeling like he was alone even if he had a family – all of that, just because of a genjutsu? Because someone had tried once again to take Kurama away from him?

He had been miserable all this time, just because someone wanted to feel powerful?

_He felt sick._

"So are you ready to go back now?" Sasuke asked and stretched out his hand once more. "Time to stop dreaming."

Something in Naruto unfurled and he smiled, clasping his hand tightly around Sasuke's. "Yeah, let's go."

Knowing that even if he couldn't trust his own senses, he could trust Sasuke to be on his side and lead the way.

That was the only certainty he had and needed.

That would never change.

* * *

Cerulean blue eyes slowly opened and blinked until they could make out a white ceiling. He was lying on a bed; judging by the small size of it, he was in the hospital.

Next to him someone stirred and when he shifted his head, his gaze fell on dark hair first, free from the scarf that had been covering the black blue strands for a while now. The person stirred and the grey poncho rustled when the man sat up straight and opened his eyes: one displaying the Mangekyou Sharingan and the other one the Rinnegan.

"Welcome back, usuratonkachi," Sasuke murmured; the red of the Sharingan fading into pure black.

A feeling of peace and rightness fell over Naruto and he grinned; his hand bumping against a pale one resting on his bed.

"I'm home, bastard."

**Author's Note:**

> AN2: This is why I should stay away from Naruto related posts; my mind starts wandering too much *sighs* I hope it wasn't too bad!
> 
> Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
> 
> Cuddles
> 
> Melissa


End file.
